The Corner of First and Amistad
by jerichosbabe
Summary: Chris doesn't want to lose her, but it may not be up to him. -Oneshot-


**A/N: For those wondering, this is based on the song _You Found Me_ by The Fray. (Hence the title) It was a little something rolling around in my head with this song, so I decided to try and let it out. Enjoy!**

Chris moved his gaze away from the wedding band on his finger to her. He gently took one of her hands and pressed it to his face. Her fingers were cold against his flushed skin.

"_What about the new Italian place?" Stephanie suggested. Chris nodded. _

"_That sounds like it could be good." He agreed. Stephanie gave him a look._

"_You hate Italian food, Chris." She reminded him. He smiled._

"_Yes I do." He said, chuckling, turning to her. "But I love you, so I'm willing to make the sacrifice if that's where you want to go." Her eyes softened and she smiled at him. _

"_What did I ever do to deserve you?" She asked him, leaning over to kiss him. _

Each and every second that ticked by felt like an eternity. They passed by nonchalantly, constantly. Time didn't care that her life was hanging in the balance. Time didn't care that each second it counted away could be her last. It simply counted on, relentlessly counted on, never looking back.

_They held hands as they walked up the street towards the restaurant. She leaned her head on his shoulder and he looked down at her. It was clear to everyone else around them that they were in love. The temperature was wonderful – just the right temperature to be comfortable in a t-shirt and jeans. The moon was out and a few stars were starting to line the sky. Chris couldn't have planned a better night. He wanted to make sure that her birthday was special to her this year, since they didn't have time to celebrate it last year._

He felt himself dying inside. It couldn't end like this. Not here, not now. They still had things to do together – places to go, people to see… They had yet to start a family, and now they may never be given the chance. He couldn't lose her so soon.

"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step back." The paramedic asked him. He nodded and backed away from her numbly, her hand slipping from his.

"_Where do you feel like going after this?" She asked him. He started to laugh and she raised her head to look at him. "What? What's funny about that?"_

"_We haven't even made it inside to eat yet, and you're already planning what we're going to do when we leave." He said, chuckling. _

"_I just like to have a plan." She said to him. He shook his head at her._

"_You're too focused on business still." He said to her, pulling a rose from behind him and handing it to her. "You need to learn to be more spontaneous." She narrowed her eyes at him inquisitively and took the flower._

"_And just when did you manage to get this?" She asked him. He smiled._

"_I'll never tell." He said._

He sat next to her in the ambulance, his fists clenched together so tightly that his knuckles were turning white. He looked away from her briefly, his mind finally registering the blood that now covered his hands and stained his shirt. Her blood. His lips pressed together in a fine line.

_Their conversation came to an abrupt end at the sound of a gunshot. Chris jerked his head sharply in the direction of the shot and saw a man standing before them, aiming a pistol at them, and for a second he thought that he was dead. He thought that a fan had finally taken things too seriously and believed that he __**was**__ his character and had actually killed him for it. It wasn't until he felt her grasp weaken that he turned to her._

_There was a bright circle of red beginning to form on her shirt and she started to lose her balance. Chris reacted in a state of shock, pulling her to him as she sank to the ground. _

"_Help me!" He screamed to the people surrounding them. "Somebody please!" He looked up and the man who shot her was gone. Lost forever in a sea of people. Stephanie brought her hand up to grasp his shoulder. He turned back to her._

"_Chris…" She whispered. He shushed her._

"_You're gonna be fine." He reassured her, putting some pressure on her wound. "You're gonna be fine, just wait." He said. She winced as he pressed on her, but she never took her eyes away from his._

"_Chris…" She whispered again. His expression was pained, clearly trying to hold on to any kind of hope or sanity he could muster at this point. She raised her hand to the side of his face._

"_I love you." She whispered. He nodded._

"_I love you too." He said to her and her eyes started to close. He could hear the sirens in the distance._

"_Stephanie, please hold on…they're almost here." He pleaded with her. "Please, Stephanie…just hold on." _

_Her eyes slid closed._

How long had it been? How long had it been since she had closed her eyes? He couldn't remember. Another part of him didn't **want** to remember. Knowing that would only mean knowing how much closer she was to being pulled away from him. Time had never seemed so slow in his life. As much as he didn't want to, Chris found himself turning his thoughts into prayers. He promised everything he could think of – even trading places with her, and it seemed to be doing nothing.

He watched as the paramedics tried to revive her once more and he felt his eyes begin to tear up. He was going to lose her. Damn it, he was going to lose her and he barely had the chance to be with her. How could He be so cruel? Putting them together only to rip them savagely apart? What kind of sick joke was this?

"Don't take her." He whispered. "Please…don't take her." The paramedic lowered the paddles once more and Chris stared at the spike in the line on the screen, praying for it to continue, for there to be another beep, another sign that she was still alive, that she was still with him, and that God hadn't abandoned him.

The heart monitor beeped again.


End file.
